A Place of Greater Safety Audiobook By Hilary Mantel cover art

A Place of Greater Safety

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A Place of Greater Safety

By: Hilary Mantel
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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It is 1789, and three young provincials have come to Paris to make their way. Georges-Jacques Danton, an ambitious young lawyer, is energetic, pragmatic, debt-ridden - and hugely but erotically ugly. Maximilien Robespierre, also a lawyer, is slight, diligent, and terrified of violence. His dearest friend, Camille Desmoulins, is a conspirator and pamphleteer of genius. A charming gadfly, erratic and untrustworthy, bisexual and beautiful, Camille is obsessed by one woman and engaged to marry another, her daughter. In the swells of revolution, they each taste the addictive delights of power, and the price that must be paid for it.

©1992 Hilary Mantel (P)2013 W.F. Howes Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Middle Ages
Historical Authenticity • Compelling Characterization • Immersive Storytelling • Rich Dialogue • Vivid Historical Details
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What a fantastic job Hilary Mantel did on this book and the readers were great,

French Revolution

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This recording ignores the basic principle that the narration should all be within a constrained dynamic range. this is not a stage production. at times it seems that some sections of the story have been recorded at different times and studios than others with very different volume levels. and it is not clear why it was decided that some of the content required or would be served best by the more histrionic high volume delivery. very disappointing.

Ignores basics of audiobook production

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than an attempt to encompass the whole history of the Revolution in the love triangle of three men. It’s wonderful, and never boring, but is a bit exhausting.

The narrator goes in for voices. Working class characters have cockney accents, which is a bit odd but gets the point across. He gives some of the women shrill and unpleasant accents which is too bad and ruins some passages. His voice for Camille has the stutter which Mantel refers to but does not indicate directly in his speech. At first, I found that hard to listen to, but over time it became my favorite part of the performance.

Less a novel

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In-depth and riveting, this novel provides a glimpse into the French Revolution from the perspective of the revolutionaries themselves. The performance is superb and leaves nothing to be desired.

Phenomenal

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I loved this book. Listened to it multiple times. I prefer it to the Wolf Hall books. The characters were fascinating and surprisingly relatable (Oh Camille!). The narrator was absolutely top notch. This is one of those books that leaks out into your real life, especially, and alarmingly, when watching the news (Oh dear!).


If this book doesn’t engage you, immediately make an appointment with a cardiologist because you might not have a pulse.

Excellent

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Overall, it is challenging to keep track of all the many many characters, and this book is not as enthralling or good as Mantel's later books Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Not her best, but still excellent

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Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

yes, anyone who is serious about the French Revolution and wants a fictional journey of the highlights, it doesn't get better then this.

What did you like best about this story?

The inner world of Danton, Robespierre, and the Desmoulins is so finely presented you feel like it's not two hundred some years ago.

Which character – as performed by Jonathan Keeble – was your favorite?

Camille Desmoulins but it's fair to state everyone is so crafted the audio performance is outstanding.

Any additional comments?

This is a masterpiece of the French Revolution anyone who wants to enter this period needs to experience this.

Just A Wonderful Trip Of The French Revolution

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Phenomenal book, can’t recommend enough if you’ve got the time. Learned a lot and was very entertaining

What a great history

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What made the experience of listening to A Place of Greater Safety the most enjoyable?

The characterizations. I am familiar with Mantel's talents in this area from Wolf Hall, and I can see now that she had developed her skills early on. Most of us are familiar with the history of the French Revolution and the rise of the Terror. But how it was experienced and lived is hard to capture, but Mantel does that in this fictionalized, yet historically solid, account.

Who was your favorite character and why?

He's not on stage long, but Mirabeau.

What about Jonathan Keeble’s performance did you like?

I thought it was fine. He had a lot of characters to portray. He did Camille Desmoulins best of all.

Wonderful characterization

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This is another beautiful book by Hilary Mantel and it's every bit as good as her other books. It follows the lives of three of the main revolutionaries and the all too tragic course of the French revolution. I love this book. In fact, it's one of my favorites. I've had a morbid fascination with the French Revolution since i first learned about it in the 3rd grade. It only continued when I covered it again in high school. This book took my interest from a terrible, if humanless, tragedy to a story about people with dreams and hopes that went terribly wrong.
I first heard of it as a suggestion on the podcast Revolutions and than read it twice. The thing is, listening to it on audible brought it to another level of beautiful. Hilary Mantel has a beautiful way with words and Jonathan Keeble did a wonderful job narrating it. The characters all had distinct voices and I found it easy to keep track of who was speaking even without being told.
This book is wonderful for people interested in the French Revolution, lovers of Hilary Mantel's other works, or people who love beautiful prose and more literary Historical fiction.

Makes the French Revolution Human

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